Why is it wrong to criticize a particular religion?

Question

I am speaking of people who say that it is wrong to say bad things about an entire religion. I ask: Why? This is especially in regards to criticism of Islam, because it is all too trendy to criticize Christianity. Doing so is a way to prove you are a member of the "in" crowd. Often though, the same people wil pounce on you if you dare question the the revealed truth that Islam is a religion of peace. Or if you even dare question some of the absurd things about it, like Mohammed talking as soon as he is born, and cutting his own umbilical cord, or ascending to heaven on a winged horse.

Religion is not like a birth defect, or skin color. It is not a congenital fact of life. Religion is a choice. Even if a person is born into it, they have a choice later. Accept it or accept reason. For a person to choose to be a Muslim, to me, is as laughable as someone who chooses to be a believer in a flat earth.

So why am I told that it is wrong to criticize that religion?

In Great Britain, it is illegal to say anything critical of religion. So much for the ideals of the Enlightenment.

Well, everyone seems to be saying that it's a matter of respect. Then why don't we let the fundies teach creationism in schools? I still smell the whiff of a double standard.

T osome of you, yeah, sure. I'll give you that everyone is entitled to their beliefs and opinions, but NO ONE is entitled to be free from criticism. Why should I be silenced so that they can believe the things they do. And before you say that what others believe doesn't affect me, sorry. It does. When people turn from science because some ghost-in-the-sky religion tells them to, society suffers. When relgion shapes our laws and judicial system, it affects me. Where dark superstition holds in bondage the minds of people, it is the duty of those not so shackled to spread the light of reason.

Again, everyone seems to be talking about respect for OPINIONS. Why is there so much respect demanded for opinions? If two people hold opposite opinions about a matter, only one of them can be true. Or neither of them can be true. There seems to be little regard lately for truth. Is it something they're teaching in the public schools? Is it "all relative"?

This is the thinking that I reject. We learn and advance by investigating, asking questions, criticizing long-held beliefs. If Galileo had never questioned the Catholic Church assertion (opinion) that the earth is the center of the universe we would never have made it to the moon.

There is no respect for opinions. Opinions are lazy, ignorant, unhelpful little things. So are beliefs. If someone wants to challenge my worldview, I welcome it, unlike those who demand utmost respect for others' alf-baked, untested, cockamamie ideas. As they say, opinions are as common as rectal orifices, but there is only room for one truth.

TS: Read. I said that it is trendy to criticize Christianity these days. It is a popular sport among wannabe literati, glitterati, and pseudointellectuals trying to curry the favor of their peers,

Answer 1

No, it is not wrong. Religions is a leap of faith, and some of the principles lack logical explanation.

However, according to some we should respect Islam and the culture surrounding Islam, while on the other side, these same people show great disdain for Christianity. That is hypocritical because the religions have the same God.

The problem with your argument is they have a choice. Believe it or not, in some parts of the world, people are not allowed free will, and that is the true problem.

I think people need to show respect for different religions and the individuals that practice the religion, but it doesn't mean that you have to agree with general principles of the religion. The questions is are you critical in effort for open dialog or it is personal vengeance against religion. Religions will be around for forever and if your reason is the latter, you are fighting a losing battle.

Answer 2

Well it is simple to understand as we have developed technologically for the last 70 years God has had an opportunity to pop in and set the record straight . HAS he done this ? No !! So i find it hard with the mounting evidence that the bible is simply a lot of hooee.
Written by people with control issues and for the weak minded people of the times .
Seems every thinking person was persecuted and killed or banished for thinking the world revolved around the sun and many others .
LIKE God did not cause the ground to rumble or volcanoes to erupt .
Science explains a lot and for people to still accept the bible as evidence of some sort of historical nature is just wrong .
THERE is little evidence to support the Prophets existence let alone how many different religions .
Some that have you married to three women to get in to heaven please forgive me if you can not allow such religions along side Scientology or any others .
I think religion does the world a dis service and the truth should be taught .
NO Santa clause or other such carried over pagan rituals .LETS make up our own .
LETS celebrate the end of nuclear weapons day .
THE end to world hunger day
THE cleaner air for all day .
WE need to fix the mess we are making before it fixes us .
Nature has a way of wiping out species and recovering .
I would like to think we can hang around for at least 60 more years or so just to be on the safe side if i live to be 100 .
At 40 i should not be longing forward to saying i told you so when i am 70 and the ocean levels have risen 10 feet ..IT will not be the end of the world but it will be a major inconvenience

Answer 3

In the USA we can and do criticize any religion,whats wrong with criticism to me its healthy for an organized religion to defend its theology.We do not allow the persecution of anyone for worshiping their chosen faith.I am agnostic and I don't focus my life in that direction but if that is your choice I do respect it.I criticize any cult like religion,and any one that tells its followers there is more glory in death than life is a cult to me.Any cult that tells its members to strap explosives to ones self or a child and do suicide bombings is a dangerous cult and I will do more than criticize it .I am sure there will be those that will say Islam extremist and not true Muslims are the ones doing that but it all comes from the same book of the Muslim profit.Where is the "religion"of peace and love? I don't see it all I see is a dangerous cult of zealots and fanatics.

I have the right to question,critique and deny any religion that offends my morals,my politics or my sensibilities.If your religion cant stand up to it ,that is not my problem.Christianity has the bloodiest roots of any religions.Its holy wars killed millions of innocents and in that sense is no different that the extremist Muslin's.

Answer 4

You are so right. Muslims , peace and tolerance just issued a decree , Become one or else. I too am amazed why any sane person would choose this. In Muslim countries i can understand this.How can you say nice things about a religion who's clerics say for a sure ticket to heaven, Kill an unbeliever.

Even though I am a Christian, I accept all other religions right to exist. We do proselytize,because it is our ,mandate, but would not approach anyone more than three times unless asked. Jews don't proselytize at all. Of all religions , they are the only ones that kill in the name of the moon god

Answer 5

Religion - ALL religion - is a tool created by the (then) ruling elite as a way of controlling, subjugating, and extorting from the general populace, and to use as a general explanation for any natural phenomena that these cultures were then insufficiently scientifically advanced to comprehend. While I believe that there are many things out there which are as yet unexplained, I do not feel the need to invent a 'higher being' to rationalise these phenomena, and feel that while it is good to maintain traditions, and to have the moral codes that these traditions provide, that the biggest issue of religion is that so many people have died, and are STILL dying, to defend beliefs that, scientifically speaking, are virtually obsolete. If somebody tells me that they are religious, I'll respect that, but I cannot respect anybody who uses violence as a means of justifying those beliefs.

Answer 6

first of all it's respect for others & their beliefs. even if you think it's the silliest thing in the world to believe in, other people are still entitled to their opinions, just as you are entitled to yours.

often people critisize other religions because they aren't knowledgeable enough about them to understand why people believe the things they do. and even within a religion there are parts that people choose to accept & other parts that they choose to ignore. as a whole they may accept the religion but bits & pieces of the details don't make sense to them either.

so if you don't like another religion, that's fine, you don't have to, but how would you feel if someone critisized what you believe in despite the fact that you think your religion is the best??? stop trying to push your beliefs onto others & let them think what they want. life is way too short to get yourself wrapped up in all that unless you're going to take the time & do some research to see why muslims think the way they do. who knows, you may even expand you own belief system a little bit!

Answer 7

You say "even if a person is born into it, they have a choice later." They do, but it's a very tough choice. For example, I was raised a strict Southern Baptist. We were taught that it was a terrible sin to even read a Bible which wasn't the King James Version, much less consider somebody else's religion or listen to somebody "blaspheming" against it. To so much as listen to another person's opinion was to risk Hell and Damnation.

If you're raised with risks of eternal damnation, hearing these things from the people you love and trust from the very day you're born, you have to have an extremely strong personality to even consider making a different choice.

It seems so reasonable to you to simply "accept reason." But to people who are raised strictly in one religion, "accepting reason" is a more serious sin than committing murder. Would you be able to commit murder, even if it happened to be the reasonable thing to do under a given set of circumstances?

Only if you've been brainwashed since the day you were born can you understand the issue.

Why waste your time criticizing their religion? It's not going to get you anywhere, and it's just going to upset them.

Answer 8

Yes, it is a matter of choice TO A DEGREE, but in MOST instances it is also ENVIRONMENTAL: you tend to practice the religion you were environmentally placed into, and grew up being immersed in.

Also, keep in mind, that the BIBLE professes the earth to be FLAT.

IN REALITY, all religions are BELIEF systems...not factual systems. We may have faith and hope that OUR beliefs are true, but that doesn't make them so. NONE of us KNOWS the truth...we just want to believe we do.

Buddhism said it best by stating that ALL PATHS TO GOD ARE VALID.

If you want respect for YOUR religious BELIEFS, then it's best you respect others. God will sort it all out in the end.

Answer 9

Many people have deep emotional ties to their religion and by criticizing something they have been emotional tied to for awhile it feels like an attack upon them. No one likes to be attack whether it is for their religion, physical attributes, intelligence, race or gender.

My next thought would be what would be the point? What is the motive? Do you think that their religion is wrong? You want to change their mind? Criticizing someone rarely persuades someone to your side of thought.

Now asking questions about a religion or asking for further explanation is certainly not criticizing. But perhaps it is not in what is being asked but how it is being asked. Those pesty facial expressions, tone of voice, the blowing out of the breath or even the rolling of the eyes can be interpreted as non verbal criticizing and I most certainly have been guilty of that.

Answer 10

Many criticisms are based on misconceptions about the religion, and are negatively slanted. Any objective or intellectual discussion would consider negative as well as positive in its evaluation. If there were such an objective quality to the discussion, it would not be considered wrong by most people.

It is clear when you say "to be a Muslim, to me, is as laughable as someone who chooses to be a believer in a flat earth." how you chose to discuss another religion. And, this of course is the wrong way.